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Joshua 7
New King James Version

Defeat at Ai

7 But the children of Israel [a]committed a (A)trespass regarding the (B)accursed[b] things, for (C)Achan the son of Carmi, the son of [c]Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took of the accursed things; so the anger of the Lord burned against the children of Israel.

2 Now Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is beside Beth Aven, on the east side of Bethel, and spoke to them, saying, “Go up and spy out the country.” So the men went up and spied out Ai. 3 And they returned to Joshua and said to him, “Do not let all the people go up, but let about two or three thousand men go up and attack Ai. Do not weary all the people there, for the people of Ai are few.” 4 So about three thousand men went up there from the people, (D)but they fled before the men of Ai. 5 And the men of Ai struck down about thirty-six men, for they chased them from before the gate as far as Shebarim, and struck them down on the descent; therefore (E)the[d] hearts of the people melted and became like water.

6 Then Joshua (F)tore his clothes, and fell to the earth on his face before the ark of the Lord until evening, he and the elders of Israel; and they (G)put dust on their heads. 7 And Joshua said, “Alas, Lord [e]God, (H)why have You brought this people over the Jordan at all—to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us? Oh, that we had been content, and dwelt on the other side of the Jordan! 8 O Lord, what shall I say when Israel turns its [f]back before its enemies? 9 For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear it, and surround us, and (I)cut off our name from the earth. Then (J)what will You do for Your great name?”

The Sin of Achan

10 So the Lord said to Joshua: “Get up! Why do you lie thus on your face? 11 Israel has sinned, and they have also transgressed My covenant which I commanded them. (K)For they have even taken some of the [g]accursed things, and have both stolen and (L)deceived; and they have also put it among their own stuff. 12 (M)Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, but turned their backs before their enemies, because (N)they have become doomed to destruction. Neither will I be with you anymore, unless you destroy the accursed from among you. 13 Get up, (O)sanctify[h] the people, and say, (P)‘Sanctify yourselves for tomorrow, because thus says the Lord God of Israel: “There is an accursed thing in your midst, O Israel; you cannot stand before your enemies until you take away the accursed thing from among you.” 14 In the morning therefore you shall be brought according to your tribes. And it shall be that the tribe which (Q)the Lord takes shall come according to families; and the family which the Lord takes shall come by households; and the household which the Lord takes shall come man by man. 15 (R)Then it shall be that he who is taken with the accursed thing shall be burned with fire, he and all that he has, because he has (S)transgressed[i] the covenant of the Lord, and because he (T)has done a disgraceful thing in Israel.’ ”

16 So Joshua rose early in the morning and brought Israel by their tribes, and the tribe of Judah was taken. 17 He brought the clan of Judah, and he took the family of the Zarhites; and he brought the family of the Zarhites man by man, and Zabdi was taken. 18 Then he brought his household man by man, and Achan the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, (U)was taken.

19 Now Joshua said to Achan, “My son, I beg you, (V)give glory to the Lord God of Israel, (W)and make confession to Him, and (X)tell me now what you have done; do not hide it from me.”

20 And Achan answered Joshua and said, “Indeed (Y)I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel, and this is what I have done: 21 When I saw among the spoils a beautiful Babylonian garment, two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold weighing fifty shekels, I [j]coveted them and took them. And there they are, hidden in the earth in the midst of my tent, with the silver under it.”

22 So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent; and there it was, hidden in his tent, with the silver under it. 23 And they took them from the midst of the tent, brought them to Joshua and to all the children of Israel, and laid them out before the Lord. 24 Then Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, the silver, the garment, the wedge of gold, his sons, his daughters, his oxen, his donkeys, his sheep, his tent, and (Z)all that he had, and they brought them to (AA)the Valley of Achor. 25 And Joshua said, (AB)“Why have you troubled us? The Lord will trouble you this day.” (AC)So all Israel stoned him with stones; and they burned them with fire after they had stoned them with stones.

26 Then they (AD)raised over him a great heap of stones, still there to this day. So (AE)the Lord turned from the fierceness of His anger. Therefore the name of that place has been called (AF)the Valley of [k]Achor to this day.

Footnotes

  1. Joshua 7:1 acted unfaithfully
  2. Joshua 7:1 devoted
  3. Joshua 7:1 Zimri, 1 Chr. 2:6
  4. Joshua 7:5 the people’s courage failed
  5. Joshua 7:7 Heb. YHWH, Lord
  6. Joshua 7:8 Lit. neck
  7. Joshua 7:11 devoted
  8. Joshua 7:13 set apart
  9. Joshua 7:15 overstepped
  10. Joshua 7:21 desired
  11. Joshua 7:26 Lit. Trouble
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Joshua 7
Contemporary English Version

Achan Is Punished for Stealing from the Lord

7 The Lord had said that everything in Jericho belonged to him.[a] But Achan[b] from the Judah tribe took some of the things from Jericho for himself. And so the Lord was angry with the Israelites, because one of them had disobeyed him.[c]

2 While Israel was still camped near Jericho, Joshua sent some spies with these instructions: “Go to the town of Ai[d] and find out whatever you can about the region around the town.”

The spies left and went to Ai, which is east of Bethel and near Beth-Aven. 3 They went back to Joshua and reported, “You don't need to send the whole army to attack Ai—2,000 or 3,000 troops will be enough. Why bother the whole army for a town that small?”

4-5 Joshua sent about 3,000 soldiers to attack Ai. But the men of Ai fought back and chased the Israelite soldiers away from the town gate and down the hill to the stone quarries.[e] Thirty-six Israelite soldiers were killed, and the Israelite army felt discouraged.

6 Joshua and the leaders of Israel tore their clothes and put dirt on their heads to show their sorrow. They lay facedown on the ground in front of the sacred chest until sunset. 7 Then Joshua said:

Our Lord, did you bring us across the Jordan River just so the Amorites could destroy us? This wouldn't have happened if we had agreed to stay on the other side of the Jordan. 8 I don't even know what to say to you, since Israel's army has turned and run from the enemy. 9 Everyone will think you weren't strong enough to protect your people. Now the Canaanites and everyone else who lives in the land will surround us and wipe us out.

10 The Lord answered:

Stop lying there on the ground! Get up! 11 I said everything in Jericho belonged to me and had to be destroyed. But the Israelites have kept some of the things for themselves. They stole from me and hid what they took. Then they lied about it. 12 What they stole was supposed to be destroyed, and now Israel itself must be destroyed. I cannot help you anymore until you do exactly what I have said. That's why Israel turns and runs from its enemies instead of standing up to them.

13 Tell the people of Israel, “Tomorrow you will meet with the Lord your God, so make yourselves acceptable to worship him. The Lord says that you have taken things that should have been destroyed. You won't be able to stand up to your enemies until you get rid of those things.

14 “Tomorrow morning everyone must gather near the place of worship. You will come forward tribe by tribe, and the Lord will show which tribe is guilty. Next, the clans in that tribe must come forward, and the Lord will show which clan is guilty. The families in that clan must come, and the Lord will point out the guilty family. Finally, the men in that family must come, 15 and the Lord will show who stole what should have been destroyed. That man must be put to death, his body burned, and his possessions thrown into the fire. He has done a terrible thing by breaking the sacred agreement that the Lord made with Israel.”

16 Joshua got up early the next morning and brought each tribe to the place of worship, where the Lord showed that the Judah tribe was guilty. 17 Then Joshua brought the clans of Judah to the Lord, and the Lord showed that the Zerah clan was guilty. One by one he brought the leader of each family in the Zerah clan to the Lord, and the Lord showed that Zabdi's family was guilty. 18 Finally, Joshua brought each man in Zabdi's family to the Lord, and the Lord showed that Achan was the guilty one.

19 “Achan,” Joshua said, “the Lord God of Israel has decided that you are guilty. So tell me what you did, and don't try to hide anything.”

20 “It's true,” Achan answered. “I sinned and disobeyed the Lord God of Israel. 21-22 While we were in Jericho, I saw a beautiful Babylonian robe, 200 pieces of silver, and a gold bar that weighed the same as 50 pieces of gold. I wanted them for myself, so I took them. I dug a hole under my tent and hid the silver, the gold, and the robe.”

Joshua told some people to run to Achan's tent, where they found the silver, the gold, and the robe. 23 They brought them back and put them in front of the sacred chest, so Joshua and the rest of the Israelites could see them. 24 Then everyone took Achan and the things he had stolen to Trouble Valley.[f] They also took along his sons and daughters, his cattle, donkeys, and sheep, his tent, and everything else that belonged to him.

25 Joshua said, “Achan, you caused us a lot of trouble. Now the Lord is paying you back with the same kind of trouble.”

The people of Israel then stoned to death Achan and his family. They made a fire and burned the bodies, together with what Achan had stolen, and all his possessions. 26 They covered the remains with a big pile of rocks, which is still there. Then the Lord stopped being angry with Israel.

That's how the place came to be called Trouble Valley.

Footnotes

  1. 7.1 belonged to him: See the note at 6.17.
  2. 7.1 Achan: The Hebrew text has “Achan, son of Carmi, grandson of Abdi, and great-grandson of Zerah.”
  3. 7.1 the Lord was angry … disobeyed him: Even though only one person had disobeyed, it meant that the Lords instructions to the people of Israel had not been followed, and the whole nation was held responsible.
  4. 7.2 of Ai: Or “called The Ruins.”
  5. 7.4,5 stone quarries: Or “Shebarim.”
  6. 7.24 Trouble Valley: Or “Achor Valley.”
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Joshua 7
English Standard Version

Israel Defeated at Ai

7 But the people of Israel broke faith in regard to the devoted things, for (A)Achan the son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took some of the devoted things. And the anger of the Lord burned against the people of Israel.

2 Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is near (B)Beth-aven, east of Bethel, and said to them, “Go up and spy out the land.” And the men went up and spied out Ai. 3 And they returned to Joshua and said to him, “Do not have all the people go up, but let about two or three thousand men go up and attack Ai. Do not make the whole people toil up there, for they are few.” 4 So about three thousand men went up there from the people. And (C)they fled before the men of Ai, 5 and the men of Ai killed about thirty-six of their men and chased them before the gate as far as Shebarim and struck them at the descent. And the hearts of the people (D)melted and became as water.

6 Then Joshua (E)tore his clothes and (F)fell to the earth on his face before the ark of the Lord until the evening, he and the elders of Israel. And they put (G)dust on their heads. 7 And Joshua said, “Alas, O Lord God, (H)why have you brought this people over the Jordan at all, to give us into the hands of the Amorites, to destroy us? Would that we had been content to dwell beyond the Jordan! 8 O Lord, what can I say, when Israel has turned their backs before their enemies! 9 For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear of it and will surround us and (I)cut off our name from the earth. And what will you do for your great name?”

The Sin of Achan

10 The Lord said to Joshua, “Get up! Why have you fallen on your face? 11 Israel has sinned; they have (J)transgressed my covenant that I commanded them; they have taken some of the (K)devoted things; they have stolen and lied and put them among their own belongings. 12 (L)Therefore the people of Israel cannot stand before their enemies. They (M)turn their backs before their enemies, because they have become (N)devoted for destruction.[a] I will be with you no more, unless you destroy (O)the devoted things from among you. 13 Get up! Consecrate the people and say, (P)‘Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow; for thus says the Lord, God of Israel, “There are devoted things in your midst, O Israel. You cannot stand before your enemies until you take away the devoted things from among you.” 14 In the morning therefore you shall be brought near (Q)by your tribes. And the tribe that the Lord takes by lot shall come near by clans. And the clan that the Lord takes shall come near by households. And the household that the Lord takes shall come near man by man. 15 (R)And he who is taken with the devoted things shall be burned with fire, he and all that he has, because he has (S)transgressed the covenant of the Lord, and because he has done (T)an outrageous thing in Israel.’”

16 So Joshua rose early in the morning and brought Israel near tribe by tribe, and the tribe of Judah was taken. 17 And he brought near the clans of Judah, and the clan of the (U)Zerahites was taken. And he brought near the clan of the Zerahites man by man, and Zabdi was taken. 18 And he brought near his household man by man, and Achan the son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was taken. 19 Then Joshua said to Achan, “My son, (V)give glory to the Lord God of Israel and (W)give praise[b] to him. And (X)tell me now what you have done; do not hide it from me.” 20 And Achan answered Joshua, “Truly (Y)I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel, and this is what I did: 21 when I saw among the spoil a beautiful cloak from Shinar, and 200 shekels of silver, and a bar of gold weighing 50 shekels,[c] then I coveted them and took them. And see, they are hidden in the earth inside my tent, with the silver underneath.”

22 So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent; and behold, it was hidden in his tent with the silver underneath. 23 And they took them out of the tent and brought them to Joshua and to all the people of Israel. And they laid them down before the Lord. 24 And Joshua and all Israel with him took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver and the cloak and the bar of gold, and his sons and daughters and his oxen and donkeys and sheep and his tent and all that he had. And they brought them up to the (Z)Valley of Achor. 25 And Joshua said, “Why did you (AA)bring trouble on us? The Lord brings trouble on you today.” And all Israel (AB)stoned him with stones. (AC)They burned them with fire and stoned them with stones. 26 And they raised over him (AD)a great heap of stones that remains to this day. Then (AE)the Lord turned from his burning anger. Therefore, to this day the name of that place is called the Valley of Achor.[d]

Footnotes

  1. Joshua 7:12 That is, set apart (devoted) as an offering to the Lord (for destruction)
  2. Joshua 7:19 Or and make confession
  3. Joshua 7:21 A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams
  4. Joshua 7:26 Achor means trouble
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Joshua 7
New International Version

Achan’s Sin

7 But the Israelites were unfaithful in regard to the devoted things[a];(A) Achan(B) son of Karmi, the son of Zimri,[b] the son of Zerah,(C) of the tribe of Judah,(D) took some of them. So the Lord’s anger burned(E) against Israel.(F)

2 Now Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai,(G) which is near Beth Aven(H) to the east of Bethel,(I) and told them, “Go up and spy out(J) the region.” So the men went up and spied out Ai.

3 When they returned to Joshua, they said, “Not all the army will have to go up against Ai. Send two or three thousand men to take it and do not weary the whole army, for only a few people live there.” 4 So about three thousand went up; but they were routed by the men of Ai,(K) 5 who killed about thirty-six(L) of them. They chased the Israelites from the city gate as far as the stone quarries and struck them down on the slopes. At this the hearts of the people melted in fear(M) and became like water.

6 Then Joshua tore his clothes(N) and fell facedown(O) to the ground before the ark of the Lord, remaining there till evening.(P) The elders of Israel(Q) did the same, and sprinkled dust(R) on their heads. 7 And Joshua said, “Alas, Sovereign Lord, why(S) did you ever bring this people across the Jordan to deliver us into the hands of the Amorites to destroy us?(T) If only we had been content to stay on the other side of the Jordan! 8 Pardon your servant, Lord. What can I say, now that Israel has been routed by its enemies? 9 The Canaanites and the other people of the country will hear about this and they will surround us and wipe out our name from the earth.(U) What then will you do for your own great name?(V)”

10 The Lord said to Joshua, “Stand up! What are you doing down on your face? 11 Israel has sinned;(W) they have violated my covenant,(X) which I commanded them to keep. They have taken some of the devoted things; they have stolen, they have lied,(Y) they have put them with their own possessions.(Z) 12 That is why the Israelites cannot stand against their enemies;(AA) they turn their backs(AB) and run(AC) because they have been made liable to destruction.(AD) I will not be with you anymore(AE) unless you destroy whatever among you is devoted to destruction.

13 “Go, consecrate the people. Tell them, ‘Consecrate yourselves(AF) in preparation for tomorrow; for this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: There are devoted things among you, Israel. You cannot stand against your enemies until you remove them.

14 “‘In the morning, present(AG) yourselves tribe by tribe. The tribe the Lord chooses(AH) shall come forward clan by clan; the clan the Lord chooses shall come forward family by family; and the family the Lord chooses shall come forward man by man. 15 Whoever is caught with the devoted things(AI) shall be destroyed by fire,(AJ) along with all that belongs to him.(AK) He has violated the covenant(AL) of the Lord and has done an outrageous thing in Israel!’”(AM)

16 Early the next morning Joshua had Israel come forward by tribes, and Judah was chosen. 17 The clans of Judah came forward, and the Zerahites were chosen.(AN) He had the clan of the Zerahites come forward by families, and Zimri was chosen. 18 Joshua had his family come forward man by man, and Achan son of Karmi, the son of Zimri, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah,(AO) was chosen.(AP)

19 Then Joshua said to Achan, “My son, give glory(AQ) to the Lord, the God of Israel, and honor him. Tell(AR) me what you have done; do not hide it from me.”

20 Achan replied, “It is true! I have sinned against the Lord, the God of Israel. This is what I have done: 21 When I saw in the plunder(AS) a beautiful robe from Babylonia,[c] two hundred shekels[d] of silver and a bar of gold weighing fifty shekels,[e] I coveted(AT) them and took them. They are hidden in the ground inside my tent, with the silver underneath.”

22 So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent, and there it was, hidden in his tent, with the silver underneath. 23 They took the things from the tent, brought them to Joshua and all the Israelites and spread them out before the Lord.

24 Then Joshua, together with all Israel, took Achan son of Zerah, the silver, the robe, the gold bar, his sons(AU) and daughters, his cattle, donkeys and sheep, his tent and all that he had, to the Valley of Achor.(AV) 25 Joshua said, “Why have you brought this trouble(AW) on us? The Lord will bring trouble on you today.”

Then all Israel stoned him,(AX) and after they had stoned the rest, they burned them.(AY) 26 Over Achan they heaped(AZ) up a large pile of rocks, which remains to this day.(BA) Then the Lord turned from his fierce anger.(BB) Therefore that place has been called the Valley of Achor[f](BC) ever since.

Footnotes

  1. Joshua 7:1 The Hebrew term refers to the irrevocable giving over of things or persons to the Lord, often by totally destroying them; also in verses 11, 12, 13 and 15.
  2. Joshua 7:1 See Septuagint and 1 Chron. 2:6; Hebrew Zabdi; also in verses 17 and 18.
  3. Joshua 7:21 Hebrew Shinar
  4. Joshua 7:21 That is, about 5 pounds or about 2.3 kilograms
  5. Joshua 7:21 That is, about 1 1/4 pounds or about 575 grams
  6. Joshua 7:26 Achor means trouble.
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